Criminal justice reporter

Richard Norred made a plan to kill family members then methodically carried it out when he “executed” his sister and shot his mother and another sister as they gathered around a kitchen table for lunch two years ago, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday at the start of Norred’s murder trial in Clarke County Superior Court.

Norred, 29, may have dealt with mental health issues since he was a child, but he knew right from wrong when he decided to kill Leigh Norred Pope the afternoon of April 20, 2010, Western Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Jon Forwood said.

“He did not like his family,” Forwood told jurors. “He had issues with everyone, probably more so with Leigh.”

Norred’s family was close-knit, and his parents struggled for years as they tried to get help for their son’s disorders.

After they moved out and married, Norred’s sisters still regularly visited their parents’ home for Sunday dinner, but Norred never joined them, Forwood said.

Norred’s anger toward family members simmered until it erupted in violence the day of the shooting, according to the prosecutor.

“That day was payback,” Forwood told jurors. “(Norred) made the conscious decision they were going to die.”

Norred’s retired father was possibly spared from the violence in his home because he’d gone golfing the day of the shooting.

The 4-year-old son of Amy Norred Lefebvre — the sister who survived the shooting — left the kitchen to use the bathroom just before Richard Norred opened fire, Forwood said.

Lefebvre knew something was wrong when she saw her brother standing in the kitchen’s doorway, with his back to his family members, for about 10 minutes, according to Forwood.

He turned around and walked into the room when he heard his sisters say it was time for them to leave, according to the prosecutor.

Norred approached Pope from behind and “executed” her with a single gunshot to the head, then methodically made his way around the table to shoot his mother and other sister, Forwood told jurors.

As an example of Norred’s ability to make decisions, the prosecutor told of how the defendant aimed a gun at his dead sister’s infant daughter, then backed off as his other sister begged him not to shoot the baby.

Forwood told jurors they would hear a recording of the 911 call that the wounded sister made when she dove for cover under the table.

“Richard, please don’t,” Lefebvre is heard saying during the 911 call, Forwood said. “Please, please Richard, can I get the baby?”

Norred then lowered the gun and said to the 3-week-old child, “My issue’s not with you,” according to Forwood.

Carol Norred, the defendant’s mother, will testify that her son spoke with her as she lay wounded on the floor, telling her, “This never would’ve happened if you’d just been honest with me,” Forwood told jurors.

He up brought events from long ago that may never even have happened, Forwood said, like when his mother supposedly struck him with a tennis racket when he was young.

Carol Norred said she was sorry when her son demanded an apology, to which he replied, “The only reason you’re saying that is because I shot you,” Forwood told jurors.

Norred also showed he planned the shooting by searching for the handgun his father had carefully hidden, along with a concealed key to a locker where he got ammunition for the gun, Forwood said.

Norred also locked the doors of the home before letting out a dog to get the pet out of harm’s way before he opened fire, the prosecutor said.

“This was not a random act of violence,” Forwood said. “This was an act that he planned.”

Norred’s failed suicide attempt, when he shot himself in the chest immediately after, was proof he knew what he had done to family members was wrong, the prosecutor said.

Norred has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to an 18-count indictment that includes charges of murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault and child cruelty.

In addition to killing Leigh Pope, he is accused of attempting to murder Lefebvre and his mother.

Diagnosed with a variety of mental disorders since childhood, Norred did not rationally choose to kill or harm anyone, Western Judicial Circuit Public Defender John Donnelly said in his opening statement to the jury.

“His brain had a break from reality,” the defense attorney said.

“What happened cannot be boiled down to a series of choices,” Donnelly added. “He was suffering from delusions and did not know right from wrong.”

Among other delusions, Norred thought that family members were out to get him. In the weeks and months leading to the triple shooting, he nourished himself mostly on protein drinks because he thought his parents poisoned his food, Donnelly told jurors.

Norred lived in the basement of his parents’ home, where he isolated himself from others and lived a nocturnal existence spent largely playing an online role-playing computer game “World of Warcraft,” Donnelly said.

While playing the game, Norred became “friends” with another online player named Jessica. Donnelly said Norred was agitated prior to the shooting because he was unable to get in touch with his fellow online gamer.

“On the day of the shooting, you’d expect to learn a concrete reason for it, but you won’t,” the defense attorney said. “There’s no answer.”